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Saturday, 26 February 2011

What Danny did next #3254

Danny Cipriani's stated intention to live a quiet life out of the pubic eye down under really doesn't appear to be going to plan, the former saviour of English rugby getting himself into a wee bit of bother having been reportedly chucked out of a nightclub in the early hours of the morning last week after allegedly stealing a bottle of alcohol from behind the bar.

Fortunately things do appear to be going a little better on the pitch, Cipriani nailing penalty in the final minute to give the Rebels a 25-24 victory over the Brumbies yesterday to make up for their embarrassing 43-0 defeat to the Waratahs in their opening Super 15 outing last week.

However, with many of Cipriani's ex-England colleagues preparing to take on the French at Twickenham today I still feel that Cipriani's strategy to win back his England place looks a little misplaced.

It's too early to say "I told you so" and the move to Oz may still be the making of him, but I've never quite understood how disappearing to the other side of the world to play for a rookie franchise, rather than staying in England and proving himself worthy of a recall by competing directly with his rivals for the shirt, was ever going to work.

It's still early days of course, but despite all the talk of staying out of the tabloid glare and knuckling down to prove himself as a player in the Super 15, the evidence still seems to suggest it's going to be a long hard slog on the pitch while his off-field behaviour is proving to be just as attractive to the tabloid hacks in Oz as it did back home.

Shame, really, because I can't help feeling that a fit and firing Cipriani would quite enjoy playing in the current England team.